Abstract
"New Public Commons" a concept embraced by the Democratic Party's Hatoyama Government, has attracted attention since 2010 when the "New Public Commons Round-table" was held and the "New Public Commons' Declaration" was published. The concept of "New Public Commons" emphasizing "self-reliant individuals" was introduced by the Liberal Democratic Party around 2000. While some observers have understood "New Public Commons" to be an idea derived from neo-liberalism, driving forward the outsourcing of welfare services, others have regarded it as reflecting the idea that NPOs play an important role in formulating government policy and providing welfare services. In these years some structural changes in society and economy have taken place, producing new social risks and greater social needs in developed countries. In Japan, these social changes have yielded the idea of "New Public Commons" in which public services are not supplied only by the government but also by NPOs and private companies. In reality, enterprises and NPOs have played very important roles in providing welfare services. The current welfare system could not have been maintained in Japan without private companies and the non-profit sector. However, it has been pointed out that welfare services have deteriorated and the working conditions of welfare service staff have been poor under the current welfare system. We should discuss the schemes, providers, resources, and so on related to welfare services to resolve these problems. This will be a discussion about the governance of welfare. Although social policy has traditionally been regarded as the study of policies implemented by government it has actually been carried out not only by the government but also by the non-profit sector. We should reconsider the conception of social policy and regard the non-profit sector as an important social policy player.
